Turnberry wait would have suited Harrington better

Padraig Harrington of Ireland watches his tee shot on the third tee during a practice round ahead of the British Open championship at the Turnberry Golf Club in Scotland July 14, 2009.

TURNBERRY, Scotland (Reuters) - Padraig Harrington said he wished his bid for a hat-trick of British Open titles could have been postponed for a few weeks due to his poor form.

"If somebody could push the Open back a couple of weeks I'd be delighted," the holder told reporters on Tuesday.

"But I don't have that option. We'll go with whatever we have on Thursday afternoon."

After missing his last five cuts on the European and PGA tours, Harrington said he had spent the past two days working on his swing with coach Bob Torrance.

"I worked hard with Bob yesterday," added the winner of the Claret Jug at Carnoustie in 2007 and Royal Birkdale last year.

"Changed a few little things, which is never great going into a tournament because it's not going to be automatic."

The world number 14 continued his pre-Open ritual by winning the Irish PGA Championship for the third time in a row on Saturday but said his game was still not up to scratch.

"I really struggled with my swing there and did a lot of work yesterday trying to establish where it had gone in the week and how I'd gone from thinking I'd really got to the bottom of this (form slump) to maybe not," said Harrington.

Despite the Irish PGA being a minor tournament, he was pleased to gain links experience before the stern test that awaits on the Ailsa course at Turnberry, which returns to the Open rotation for the first time since 1994.

"There's a massive adjustment to links golf. I can't explain to people the difference of hitting the golf ball off links turf by the seaside," said Harrington, trying to become the first player to win three British Opens in a row since Australian Peter Thomson (1954-56).

DRIVING WOES

One major concern for Harrington, who lies 175th on the driving accuracy statistics on the European Tour, is the depth of the rough that awaits any skewed tee shots.

"The guy who drives it well this week has a big advantage. That rough is deep enough that to try to hit a ball straight 50 yards out ... is going to be difficult," he said.

"I would suggest you want to hit the fairways at all costs."

Despite his woes Harrington, who will play alongside American Jim Furyk and Australian world number seven Geoff Ogilvy in the opening two rounds, was able to draw comfort from his winning mentality.

"The one thing I know is that if I get in position I can win. That's the nice thing," he said.

"Others can get there but they won't (necessarily) win. Can I get into position is what's in doubt."

(Editing by Tony Jimenez)